Plastics form a significant component of majority of disposable medical devices, non-disposable medical devices, medical device packaging as well as other non-medical device applications including automotive and commodity applications. These thermoplastics include polymers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyethyleneterephthalate and polycarbonate among others. Increasing use of plastics over the past decades has resulted in increased impact on landfill capacity and the depletion of fossil fuel-based resources. The increasing use of plastics or plastic material has also resulted in increasing level of environmental pollution and associated carbon footprint.
In light of above, there has been an increased interest in the utilization of recycled thermoplastic polymeric materials, which may be obtained from a variety of sources. The increased interest in utilizing recycled thermoplastic polymeric materials is driven by a number of factors, including increased customer awareness and concern for protection of the environment, environmentally preferred purchasing policies developed by customers, recognition of benefits of environmental stewardship in marketing by brand owners, development of new regulations and environmental policies intended to reduce the carbon footprint, and a desire to reduce the increasing costs of storage and/or landfill space coupled with more stringent regulations for disposal and incineration. The increased interest in utilizing recycled thermoplastic polymeric materials is also driven by the improved capabilities of recyclers to consistently produce high quality recycled resins. These factors have already resulted in extensive use of recycled plastics in automotive and food packaging applications. For example, Ford Motor Company has developed ways to increase the use of recycled materials in its vehicle manufacturing. Two exemplary outcomes of this development include Visteon Automotive Systems' recycling of thermoplastic scrap from automobile bumpers and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company recycling of scrap into automobile air cleaners. Recycled PET or polyethylene terephthalate is extensively used in food and packaging applications including beverage bottles.
In order to enhance the environmental stewardship of medical devices and ability of healthcare agencies to satisfy environmental targets, for example, the LEED system while reducing the impact on landfills, without sacrificing safety, there is a growing emphasis on manufacturing medical devices made from recycled plastics. Previous attempts to use recycled resins in manufacturing of medical devices or their components have encountered obstacles such as lack of biocompatibility, lot-to-lot variability in properties, and undesirable changes to the appearance during the sterilization process. Furthermore, when recycled resin compositions are used to form fluid path contact medical devices, there is a concern that the recycled resin compositions will interfere with the material being transmitted, carried or delivered through the medical device.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for thermoplastic compositions comprised of recycled resin compositions that are biocompatible, sterilization-stable and are useful for medical device applications. Such recycled resin compositions are not limited to medical device applications and would apply to any industry that may utilize such compositions that are sterilization-stable.